The remains of a hurricane provided a wet start to the penultimate days racing at the Laser World Masters Championship at Hyannis on Cape Cod in USA.

With a forecast of strong winds developing mid to late afternoon the 280 competitors left the shore 2 hours earlier than scheduled in an attempt to get a race in before conditions got worse. As the fleet reached the course are the rain stopped and the wind dropped to 7 knots from the east.

The Apprentice (35-44) fleet were the first group to start. The leading competitors in the overall competition all rounded the first mark in the top ten. Overall leader Andreas John (GER) went from third to first, overtaking Jyrki Taiminen (FIN) and Mark Littlejohn (GBR) on the downwind leg. John held his lead on a shortened course in a dying breeze which saw over half the fleet failing to make the time limit of finishing twenty minutes behind the leader.

The Masters (45-54) fleet had two attempted starts before the wind died and all further racing was postponed for the remaining fleets for two hours. The second attempted start of the Master fleet saw series leader Ed Adams (USA) reduce his overall lead in the championship to nothing when he was disqualified. Along with five others, for breaking the start line prematurely.

When racing resumed, in a 7 knot north westerly, Peter Follansbee from USA led home the Masters fleet from Malcolm Courts (GBR). Adams' nearest competitor, Mark Bear (USA), scored a seventh to make him joint leader on the same points.

Peter Seidenberg (USA), who has been to all but one of the previous World Masters Championships in the last twenty years, collected his third win in the Grand Masters division (55 to 64 years). Overall leader, Keith Wilkins (GBR) scored a second place to keep him on top 5 points ahead of American Bill Symes who finished third, and Seidenberg.

In the smaller sail Laser Radial Fleet Apprentice division Stephen Cockerill (GBR) gained his fourth win of the series whilst his nearest rival, Mark Orams from New Zealand scored his worst result of the series, a sixth. Adam French from Australia finished second behind Alden Shattuck USA but still maintains a healthy overall lead on Shattuck. In the Grand Masters fleet Linsdey Hewitt (USA) consolidated his overall lead with a first place whilst in the 18 strong Great Grand Masters division (65 +) Dick Tillman from Florida was led home by Heinz Gebauer from Canada. This is the first time Tillman has been beaten across the line in this series. Sally Sharp from USA was first of the 12 ladies sailing.

With one days sailing left all divisions are wide open except the Great Grand Masters.

Tom Burton (AUS) and Alison Young (GBR) hit the right note in the Laser and Laser Radial at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as they took out the top honours and qualification spots to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final.

It was double Australian gold in the Paralympic classes. Matt Bugg (AUS) came out on top in the 2.4mR whilst London 2012 Paralympic SKUD18 gold medallists Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) were triumphant in the two person keelboat.

Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas came out on top in the Men's RS:X whilst Russia's Stefania Elfutina was triumphant in the Women's RS:X. Both sailors claim the first Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots whilst Jock Calvert (AUS) and Joanna Sterling (AUS) picked up the Oceanic spots for the Emirati finale.

There was some fast paced action in the 49er and 49erFX Medal Races at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen (AUS) and Maia & Ragna Agerup (NOR) claimed the honours and Abu Dhabi final spots.

A tight group of five young Papua New Guinean (PNG) Laser sailors are stepping up their 2015 Pacific Games competition program using this week's ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne. PNG is one of 33 countries represented at the important Oceanic event, the largest Olympic sailing regatta in the southern hemisphere.

Melbourne, Australia will host the final Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification regatta in 2015. With just under one year until the event, the 2015 IFDS Worlds was launched at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne kick starts the journey to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with qualification spots and top ranking points available in the Australian city.

Four boats in the Volvo Ocean Race celebrated rounding the venerated landmark of Cape Horn on Monday, a pleasure cruelly denied Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA) after the Chinese boat's mast was broken early in a dramatic day on Leg 5.

The wind played dirty tricks all day in Palma on the sailors and race committees who had to juggle with big shifts and different pressure. From 4 to 20 knots, and reaching 40 in some gusts, the wind turned around the bay playing with everybody's nerves.

Ghosting across the line in the inky blackness of a Mediterranean spring night, finally slicing through the finish line set on the very waters where some 40 odd years ago he cut his teeth as a young, aspiring sailor harbouring great dreams, at 01:47:00hrs local time Guillermo Altadill and his talented, ever reliable Chilean co-skipper Jose Muñoz secured second placed in this third edition of the Barcelona World Race, the round the world race for two crew which left the Catalan capital on December 31st 2014.

Algoa Bay brought lighter conditions on Sunday, and after a postponement waiting for the wind to settle, the race got underway in 7 knots of breeze from the south-east. Ted Conrads and Brian Haines from the USA were the pathfinders, and opened up the gate for the fleet as they sailed out to the right-hand side of the course.